A Chance Meeting
by Triple Crown
Summary: A one shot that may eventually turn into its own series. When Darcy stops in at a coffee shop on her way to work, she is surprised to come across Steve Rogers. Darcy does not think of herself as the type of girl to get giddy over a man, but something about Captain America has her acting very out of character. Will she be able to keep her cool or embarrass herself? Find out!


Darcy twirled her dark hair in her finger as she sat at the little table in the coffee shop watching the hunk of star-spangled blondness on the opposite wall. She had met him briefly when she and Jane did a gig for SHIELD a few months back. She was floored by him, then too. Now, of all the little cafés in New York that she could have chosen on her commute, she walked into the one with Captain America.

Now, Darcy was not one to get all giddy over a man. She hated how some girls lost their senses when they saw a cute guy or just got a little attention from an attractive man. Not her. No way. Her life was not centered around muscles and chins and flowers and chocolates. Some girls just weren't level-headed, like Darcy. Independent and free-spirited. Sure, she enjoyed sex as much as any other 20-something, but men just weighed you down. Darcy knew how to live and that was being Darcy with her own life and freedom.

Why then was she staring at this guy and thinking about him scooping her up in his arms and never letting her go? Maybe some sugar and caffeine would clear her head. Yep, another shot of espresso and a huge chocolaty muffin would satisfy her just right. Right?

After Darcy had bought her muffin and sat down she saw Steve Rodgers close the history book he had been reading. He let out an audible sigh. She could see the cover and the title said something about Vietnam. _OH CRAP!_ He was looking right at her. He had seen her staring. What should she do? He was getting up. _Think quick, Darcy!_

The perfect solution, obviously, was to shove half the muffin in her mouth.

"Hi, you look familiar," Steve said as he approached. He wore a tight t-shirt with a leather jacket. On anybody else it might have looked like he was trying too hard to be tough, but Darcy knew that Captain America didn't really need to try.  
"Blarghfgbil…" The muffin was not the solution to her dilemma.

"That sounded like a yes," Steve said, smiling.

After Darcy had sufficiently swallowed enough muffin, she tried to speak again. "Yes, yes we have. I mean, yes, I'm familiar because we've met. Once. I had to give a really boring slideshow at SHIELD for how wormholes worked and some alien stuff." A sudden realization struck her. "And I'm not supposed to say things like that in public because of spies and stuff." She bit her lip and kicked the table. All this Top Secret stuff with clearances and global security and all that got really annoying after a while. All of Jane's and Erik's labs had these infrared communication blocker dealies that didn't let her get a signal at all. She had to go outside every time she wanted to send a text.  
"No, you really shouldn't say anything in public that would identify you like that. You never know who is around and what kind of information they can get from even the smallest comments."

His tone was very reproachful. Okay, Darcy knew she slipped a little, but that tone of voice was very condescending. Okay, so he was like 90 years old, technically, but he didn't need to talk down to her that much, especially when she caught herself like she did.

"Yea, well, you really shouldn't fall asleep in the front row when someone is giving a very useful speech. What if you missed the part where I told you exactly how to stop the bad guys?" That ought to embarrass him. He did fall asleep during the best part. Granted, he probably didn't follow anything about the gravitational physics and black holes and time bending, much of which Darcy had a hand in. That's right: Darcy Lewis wasn't hanging out with two of the most prominent astrophysicists in the world just to carry their equipment. She had gone to college and gotten a degree so she could do some work. You'd think saving the world would pay a little better, though.

"I usually just punch the bad guys. It's kind of a universal problem solver." Was that snarky smile his way of trying to flirt or what?

_I think his voice just changed. It sounds flirty. Or is he still being condescending. I can't tell._

Darcy just kind of sniggered and replied, "Try punching a big portal to the beginning of time and see how far that gets you. As I recall, Tony Stark was the one that used the invention that Jane and Erik invented-and I helped with-to save all of space and time. Come back to me when punching does that."

Steve stood there for a moment, taking in all that he had just heard. He had never been a ladies' man, to be sure. Even after the super serum, but he knew what he was attracted to and it was women like Peggy and this girl in the coffee shop. Women who were strong and abrasive, even though it caused him to shrink back sometimes. He had grown up in the twenties and thirties. He grew up being told what a woman should be: good to look at and loyal to her man. He had always found the girls of his generation to be boring, even if he did his best to win them over. After all, he still liked the idea of companionship and they weren't all superficial, but it had always bothered him that women were expected to be that way.

Meeting Peggy had been a Godsend. Now, this young women was staring him in the face with the same tenacity that he so admired about women like Peggy and Natasha. Steve was suddenly aware of the long silence.

"You going into work?"

"Yes. To the place with the stuff and the things that I'm not supposed to talk about. Super secrety stuff and things. That work? Yes, that's where I'm going." Darcy could feel her cheeks flushing. "I'm just going to be quiet now and get going."

"I'm headed that way, too. I could walk you. Steve Rogers, by the way." He offered his hand and she extended hers.

"Darcy Lewis."


End file.
